OCLC Europe, Middle East and Africa Regional Council Meeting will be held in South Africa in February 2014

OCLC Europe, Middle East and Africa Regional Council Meeting will be held in South Africa in February 2014

Charles Leadbeater will keynote the first meeting held in Africa

LEIDEN, Netherlands, 23 July 2013— The programme has been announced for the first OCLC Europe, Middle East and Africa Regional Council Meeting to take place in Africa. The theme, “Library Community in Action: advancing knowledge, cooperation and innovation” will address the importance of community—exploring how a cooperative approach can make a difference and what greater collaboration between libraries can really offer in the context of sharing and innovation.

Librarians from nearly 30 countries are expected to gather in Cape Town, many with a view to explore the potential for new partnerships and collaboration. The OCLC EMEA Regional Council Meeting offers a rare opportunity to move outside the regular circuit of national library conferences and engage in new conversations with peers offering a fresh perspective.

The EMEA Regional Council Executive Committee is delighted to announce the first keynote will be Charles Leadbeater, one of the world’s leading authorities on innovation and creativity. He has advised companies, cities and governments around the world on innovation strategy. Mr Leadbeater is the author of “We-think: the power of mass creativity”, which charts the rise of mass, participative approaches to innovation from science and open source software, to computer games and political campaigning. He has also worked extensively as a senior adviser to the U.K. government and the European Commission on the rise of the knowledge-driven economy and the Internet.

Robert Moropa, Chair of EMEA Regional Council and Library Director at the University of Pretoria, said: “I can think of nothing more fitting for our first OCLC EMEA Regional Council Meeting in Africa than to have a theme that is inspired by the African proverb, ‘if you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together’. In addition to hearing renowned international speakers address the topic, we will learn about member-led activities from across our region, spotlighting initiatives in research, advocacy, shared services, technology and innovation.”

The OCLC EMEA Regional Council Meeting will take place in Cape Town on 24 and 25 February 2014 at the International Convention Centre. Further announcements on the program will follow shortly. The event is free to attend and libraries from across Europe, the Middle East and Africa are welcome. To register interest in attending, go to the event website.

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Founded in 1967, OCLC is a nonprofit, membership, computer library service and research organization dedicated to the public purposes of furthering access to the world’s information and reducing library costs. More than 74,000 libraries in 170 countries have used OCLC services to locate, acquire, catalog, lend, preserve and manage library materials. Researchers, students, faculty, scholars, professional librarians and other information seekers use OCLC services to obtain bibliographic, abstract and full-text information when and where they need it. OCLC and its member libraries cooperatively produce and maintain WorldCat, the world’s largest online database for discovery of library resources. Search WorldCat.org on the Web. For more information, visit the OCLC website.

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